Japan Space-Time Strange Chronicles

Those Crazy Guys Again

This is the second chapter this month.

The battle part is coming soon, but the last one is to come.

- Kazuhiro Kasami

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Day 1 Month 1 Year 381 World Calendar

Barbarassa Empire, Capital Barbaronia

On this day, the Barbarassa Empire celebrated the New Year, and all of its subjects came together to offer New Year's greetings to the Emperor, Barbarassa XXI. Prime Minister Dordom was standing at the head of the entourage to represent them.

"Your Majesty, I wish you a Happy New Year. May this year also be a better one—"

"Prime Minister."

The Prime Minister's words were interrupted by a steely tone.

"Have the replacements for the generals been decided?"

"T-that's... about that..."

Yes, since the Army, Navy, and Air Force military personnel were being killed left and right, there was quite a struggle in the military as to who would take their place. Because this was the first time since the founding of the country that a war in which not a single enemy soldier could be defeated. Not only it was a major defeat, but the rumor that less than half of the soldiers had fled back home after being decimated was enough to shake the upper echelons of the empire. It was only natural that he would not want to take on the role of standing on the battlefield where such a battle might occur.

Above all, as the details of the defeat were still largely unknown, none of the remaining officers in the capital wanted to take the job. It was no wonder that Dordom was so reluctant.

"T-the three branches are currently rebuilding and reorganizing personnel for the defense of the capital. The number of personnel, including those levied from the civilians, has reached more than one hundred thousand..."

"The best of them should be chosen. If the person whom everyone recognizes as the best stands on the front line, morale will naturally rise."

Unfortunately, this method of operation is quite antiquated, even for the Grand Lago Kingdom, not to mention Japan. A commander requires the vision and ability to see the whole battle from a position from which one can see things in the big picture.

"W-well, that may be true, but... t-there are many circumstances."

For this reason, even in Japan, commanders and generals often fought on the front lines until the Kamakura period, but the better a commander is, the more he must essentially have an objective bird's-eye view of the battlefield. In the first place, as mentioned above, it was not until the Kamakura period in Japan that victories were won by having a general go out to the front lines to fight, and in the Sengoku period, when ashigaru foot soldiers appeared, this was rather an antiquated way.

No great warrior could fight against one hundred men (although there are some exceptions if we include world history and look at the period up to World War II...).

As a side note, if you are looking for a general in the Sengoku period who was both a great commander and a great man, I would recommend Tadakatsu Honda, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Tokugawa.

He wielded a famous spear called Tonbokiri, which translates to "Dragonfly Cutter," and there is a story that he went toe-to-toe with Naotaka Magara, a great leader of the Asakura forces who came to support the Azai forces in the Battle of Anegawa, where the combined Oda and Tokugawa forces fought the Azai and Asakura forces (by the way, this Naotaka Magara was said to wield a huge, powerful sword called "Tarōtachi" that could smash armor). Furthermore, he was unscathed in more than 50 battles (57 in all) during his life (even the Battle of Mikatagahara, which is said to be Ieyasu's only defeat), making him an exceptional hero not only in Japan but also in the world history.